Slicing-machine.



P. P. BURKHARDT.

SLIDING MAOHINH.

APPLIUATIQN FILED JUNE 2, 1906.

Patented Jan. 4, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

FIG. I.

INVENTOR flank/z A Hark/unit". B)

WITNESSES:

A TTORNEY.

F. P. BURKHA RDT.

SLIOING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1908.

945,218.- Patentd Jan, 4, 1910. 4 sums-sum a.

FIG .3. FIG. 4.

WITNESSES: "INVENTOR:

Q flw flank/fizz F. Bwr/r/mrdt ATTORNEY.

moazw, a, mum! ca. mmmmumns. wasmuamu. n c.

F. P. BURKHARDT.

' smome MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1906.

Patented Jan.4,1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

III .2

menu. l mum nu. nave-mm WADMM B F. P. BURKHARDT.

SLICING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 190a.

Patented Jan.4, 1910.

4 SHEETS 7 SHEET 4.

FIG.

FIGJO.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN P. BURKHARDT, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, TO THE ANDERSON TOOL COMPANY, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, A CORPORA-TION OF INDIANA.

SLIGING-MA CHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN P. BURK- I-IARDT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Springfield, in the county of Clark and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slicing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to slicing machines, being designed moreparticularly for use as a machine for slicing meat, although capable ofemployment in the slicing of other materials "and substances.

The invention has for its object to provide an automatic machine wherebya piece of meat may be readily and quickly cut into a plurality ofslices of any desired thickness.

To these ends the invention consists in certain novel features which .Iwill now proceed to describe, and will then particularly point out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a machineembodying my invention in one form. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of thesame; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the cutting disk and its carriage;Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken on the line 00 m of Fig. 3 and lookingin the direction of the arrows; Fig. 5 is an inverted plan View of whatis shown in Fig. 3; Figs. 6 and 7 are detail elevations of thesharpener, detached; Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view of a portion ofFig. 2; Fig. 9 is a sectional view, taken on the line y 1 of Fig. 8 andlooking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 10 is a detail perspectiveview.

of the holder, detached; Fig. 11 is a detail view of the feed shaft andits worm and pawl and ratchet mechanism, detached; Fig. 12 is a viewlooking at the left-hand end of Fig. 11; Fig. 13 is a detail sectionalview, taken on the line 2 .2 of Fig. 11 and looking in the direction ofthe arrows; Fig. 14 is a detail view of the feed adjusting mechanism,detached; Fig. 15 is a. view looking at the right-hand end of Fig. 14.;Fig. 16 is a detail front elevation of a portion of the front edge ofthe table; and Fig. 17 is a detail sectional View, taken on the line 1)o of Fig. 16 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

The structure, in its preferred form, comprises a suitable base having asome- Speeification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 2, 1906.

i l l l Patented Jan. 4, 1910. Serial No. 319,888.

what elongated portion 1, adjacent to which is an elevatedwork-supporting table At the ends of the elongated portion 1 there arisestandards 3 and 4-, to which are secured the ends of a bar 5, whichconstitutes a guide for the carriage (5 of the cutting disc 7, themachine being organized to employ positively rotated disk ciprocatedacross the work as it rotates. The carriage (5, in. its preferred form,comprises two parallel plates 8 and l), lying on opposite sides of theguide bar 5, and connected with each other by bolts 10, a spacing block11. being interposed between the upper ends of said plates, and theupper bolts 10 passing through said spacing block as well as the plates.A hearing strip .12 is located between this spacing block and the top ofthe guide bar, on which latter it rests, said bearing strip beingadjustable by means of adjusting screws 13, which pass down through thespacing block and bear on the upper side of the strip. The lower bolts10 are provided with hearing rollers 1 1, mounted on the portions ofsaid bolts which lie between the plates 8 and 9, said rollers bearing onthe under side of the guide bar 5, to reduce the friction caused by thepressure of the carriage against the under side of the bar due to theresistance of the material operated on.

The cutter may be constructed and mounted in any suitable manner, but Iprefer the construction shown, in which the disk 7 which constitutes thecutter proper is formed of a thin concave-convex sheet of steel, clampedagainst a support 15, which latter has a sleeve-like hub 16. The member9 of the carriage has a bearing sleeve 17, which extends through theother carriage member 8 and terminates flush with a boss or short sleeve18 forming part of said member 8. The sleeve 16 extends beyond theseparts, and this extension is threaded and receives a pair of nuts 19,which bear against the ends of the sleeves 17 and 18 and hold thesupport 15 in position against the outer face of the member 9. Aclamping bolt 20 passes centrally through the sleeve 16, and has at oneend a nut 21, which clamps the disk 7 against the holder 15, the otherend of said bolt hav ing screwed thereon a sprocket wheel 22, whichbears against the end of the sleeve 16, the nut 21 and sprocket wheel 22acting as clamping nuts which insure the rotation and cutter which isrcunison with each other of the disk, its holder and the sprocket wheel.

Power is applied to reciprocate the car riage 6 and rotate the cuttingdisk '7 through the medium of a crank wheel 23, provided with a crankhandle 24, and preferably of a weight such as to act as a fly wheel toequalize the motion. This crank wheel is supported on a stud shaft 25,which, in the present instance, serves to aid in securing one of theends of the guide bar 5 to the standard l. To this end, said stud shaftpasses through the guide bar into a threaded aperture in the standard,and is provided with an enlarged wrench grasp 26 adjacent to the bar toclamp the same against the standard. A. screw bolt 27 also aids insecuring the bar to the standard. The portion of the shaft 25 which liesoutward beyond the wrench grasp 26 has mounted to rotate thereon asleeve 28, which has formed on its inner end a pinion 29. On the outerend of said sleeve there is keyed the hub of the fly wheel 23, and tosaid fly wheel there is secured, so as to rotate in unison therewith andwith the sleeve, a sprocket wheel 30. A washer 31, secured to the outerend of the stud shaft 25 by a screw bolt 32, holds the sleeve and itsattached parts on the shaft 25. The pinion 29 meshes with a gear 33,carried by a shaft 3a, which is mounted in a bearing on the upper end ofthe standard at. The gear 33 is located at one end of said shaft, on oneside of the bearing 35, and the shaft projects beyond the other side ofthe bearing 35 and has secured to ita crank arm 36, to the end of whichis pivotally connected at 37 one end of a link 38. The other end of thelink 38 is pivotally connected at 39 to the carriage 6, and by thisconstruction a reciprocating motion is given to the carriage and cuttingdisk longitudinally of the guide bar 5. To impart rotary motion to thedisk 7, a sprocket chain 40 is employed, which passes aroundthe'sprocket wheel 30 and around a similar sprocket wheel 41, carried bya stud shaft 42 at the other end of the bar 5. The sprocket wheel 22 onthe disk-clamping bolt 20 meshes with this sprocket chain, which is heldin extended contact with said sprocket wheel 22 by means of an idler4L3, supported on the carriage 6. By this means a positive movement ofrotation is imparted to the cutting disk, said movement being in thedirection of the arrow shown in Fig. 2.

The plane of reciprocation of the cutting disk is immediately adjacentto the forward edge of the work-supporting table 2, on which the holder44: is supported and on which it is fed. This holder is shown detachedin Fig. 10 of the drawings. It comprises a base 45 and vertical lateralflanges 4L6, the base being provided with gripping teeth L7 projectingupward therefrom. These teeth, so far as those on the central portion ofthe base are concerned, are formed by slitting the edges of a sheet ofmetal 48, which is secured to the top of the base, the slits being madeat an angle to the edges and the angular portions thus formed beingturned up at right angles. The gripping teeth at the forward edge of theholder are formed by similarly slitting the forward edge of the baseitself and turning up the points thus formed. The holder is furtherprovided with a gripping device comprising a bar 49, provided withgripping teeth 50, said bar having its ends bent parallel with eachother and at right angles to the body of the bar, as indicated at 51,thus forming arms, the ends of which are pivoted to the sides as of theholder at the rear end of the holder, as indicated at 52. The grippingbar can thus be lifted up to permit the placing of the meat in theholder, and may then be swung down on the same so that it will be firmlygripped between the teeth and L7. lVhen thus swung down into position,the gripping device may be held in place by means of a thumb nut 53,mounted on a threaded stud or bolt 5%, projecting from one of the arms51 through a slot 55 in one of the side members as, said thumb nutacting to clamp the arm against the side member and hold the grippingdevice in adjusted position.

' The holder is guided by means of a fixed shaft or guide rod 56,secured at its forward end to a lug 57 on the base, the other end ofsaid guide rod or shaft being free. To the side member a6 which liesadjacent to said guide rod there is secured a sleeve 58 which fits overthe guide rod 56 and is adapted to slide along the same. Said sleeve maybe readily slipped on and off the guide rod at the unobstructed end ofsaid rod under certain conditions, thereby permitting the ready removalof the holder from the machine and its replacement thereon. The sleeveis also adapted to rotate on the guide rod, so that the holder may beswung up from the table around said rod as an axis. The sleeve isprovided, on the side thereof opposite the side which is attached to theholder, with a plurality of rack teeth 59, which, when the holder isresting in working position on the table 2, mesh with a worm 60 on thefeed shaft 61. hen the holder is swung up from the table in the mannerhereinafter referred to, these teeth become disengaged from the worm andthe holder can then be withdrawn from the machine by slipping the sleeveoff of the guide rod, its replacement being effected in a similar andobvious manner. Furthermore, this construction permits the holder to bedisengaged from the worm and slipped back to the initial position of itsfeed, so that, when the piece of meat or other article is of greaterlength than the extent of the feed, after the holder has fed forward asfar as it can go, it can be slipped 63, carried by an arm 64, whichlatter is secured to the feed shaft by a set screw (55. The feed shaftis given a movement of OSClllation by the mechanlsm hereinafterdescribed, thereby imparting an intermittent rotary motion to the worm(50 through the pawl and ratchet mechanism provided for that purpose.The feed shaft (31 is mounted in bearings 66 on the frame, and isoscillated by the following mechanism. An arm 67 is secured to the feedshaft by a set screw 68, and has pivoted to it at 69 one end of a link70. The other end of this link is pivoted at 71 to a crank arm 72,secured to one end of a rock-shaft 73, mounted in a bearing 74 in thebase of the standard at. The other end of the roeleshaft 73 has securedthereto an arm or tappet 75, which lies in the path of a lever 7 6, saidlever being pivoted at 77 to the standard 4. The carriage is providedwith a projection 78, which, when the carriage approaches the end of itsreturn movement, just prior to starting forward again to make anothercut, strikes the lever 76, and causes the same to act upon the tappet 75 and move the rock-shaft 73 in one direction. This movement of therock-shaft, through the arms 72 and 67 and the connecting link 70,rotates the feed shaft 61 in such a way as to c: use the pawl 63 toimpart a movement of rotation to the worm 60 through the ratchet wheel62. The return movement of the parts is effected by a spring 79,connected to the arm 72 and to the base, said spring serving to returnthe parts to normal position as the projection on the carriage movesforward again. This return movement of the parts does not affect thefeeding worm, since the pawl slips over the ratchet wheel when moving inthis direction.

Provision is made for controlling the exact amount to which the holderis fed for ward after each reciprocation of the cutter. the samecomprising a stop arm 80, secured to the feed shaft 1 by means of a setscrew 8].. A stop plate 82, preferably formed in one piece with the rearbearing (36 of the feed shaft, has formed therein a plurality ofapertures 83.

84 represents a stop pin, which may be inserted in any one of theapertures 83, said stop pin lying in the path of the arm 80. The spring79 acts to bring the stop arm 80 against the stop pin 84 at the end 'ofeach oscillation of the feed shaft 61, so that said step pin defines theinitial point of the range of such oscillation. Since the limit ofmovement of oscillation in the opposite direction is fixed, beingdetermined by the travel of the carriage, which is always uniform, itwill be seen that the extent of the oscillation of the feed shaftdepends upon the extent of return motion under the influence of thespring 79 and the extent of this return motion is determined in anobvious manner by the position of the stop pin 84. Since the thicknessof the slice depends upon the extent of the feed, it is obvious that themachine may be readily set to cut slices of different thickness, asdesired.

From the foregoing description, the general operation of the machinewill be readily understood. Assuming that a piece of meat,

such as a piece of bacon eight inches long, is to be sliced, thegripping device 18 released and swung up, the holder moved back to theinitial position of its feed, the bacon placed on the base of the holderwith its front edge alined with the front edge of the table 2, and thegripping device is then brought down on the meat and secured by thethumb nut 53. The stop pin 84 is, of course, set to produce slices ofthe desired thickness. The crank wheel 23 is then rotated by theoperator, and the carriage 6 traverses along the guide 5, carrying therotating cutter across the end of the piece of bacon. Durin the lastportion of the return movement of each complete reciprocation of thecarriage, the holder is fed forward to the desired extent to present thebacon for the next slice, this occurring after the cutter has passedclear of the bacon. During each forward move ment of the carriage, thecutter acts to slice off the bacon, cutting not only by its movement ofrotation, but also by the forward feed imparted to it by the carriage,the forward edge of the table constituting the support which cooperateswith the disk during this operation. This forward feeding of the holdercontinues until the rack teeth 5!) have been fed forward beyond the worm(30, and this occurs before the holder is advanced to an extentsutlicient to bring it into the path of the knife. I urthermore, thesleeve 58 and bearing lug 57 are so arranged that the former will comeinto contact with the latter before the holder can be moved forward toan extent sufficient to cause it to project beyond the edge of the tableand into the path of the cuttin disk. Assuming, as already stated, thatthe piece of bacon operated on is eight inches in length and that thefeed of the machine is four inches, it will be seen that the holder willhave been fed forward as far as it can go when only four inches of thebacon has been sliced. The holder can then be tilted up so as todisengage its rack teeth from the worm, whereupon the holder can be slidback upon its guide rod to its initial position, the bacon shiftedforward in the holder, and the feeding operation repeated.

In order to firmly hold the meat or other material against lateraldisplacement at the plane of cutting, particularly when the holder iswell back of said plane, as at the beginning of its feed, the table 2 isprovided on its top, at its front margin, immediately adjacent to thepath of the cutter, with holdingteeth 2, knife-like in form, arrangedwith their length in the direction of feed of the material, and risingin an incline from the level of the table, their height increasing inthe said direction of feed. By reason of this construction, the materialis fed forward onto and gradually engaged by these holding teeth, whichprevent the lateral displacement of the material. by the pressure of theadvancing cutter, and thus insure an accurate cut.

Provision'is made for sharpening the cutting edge of the disk as itrotates, and to this end the carriage is provided, on the side adjacentto the disk, with a pivot stud 85, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, inwhich view the sharpening block and its support are omitted. 86indicates the said support, which is apertured at 87 to fit upon thepivot stud 85. Said support has clamping aws 88 and 89, the latter ofwhich is provided with a clamping screw 90, by means of which thesharpening block 91 may be clamped against the jaw 88. The block is madeof any suitable abrasive material, and has its working face inclined tothe opposite face thereof, as indicated at 92. By turning the supportupon the pivot stud 85, the block may be brought into a position suchthat its work ing face bears upon the cutting edge of the disk at therear thereof, so that said cutting edge will be sharpened as the diskrotates. By moving the support away from this position, the sharpeningblock may be moved out of contact with the disk, which position is givento the parts when the sharpening de vice is not in use.

It will be observed that during the outward or working stroke of thecarriage and cutter said parts travel in a direction opposite to thedirection of travel of the lower portion of the sprocket chain 10, bywhich the cutter is rotated, so that the disk revolves at a relativelyhigh speed during its working stroke.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction shown and described, for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by 7 Letters Patent, is

1. A slicing machine comprising a table or support for the work, a frameadjacent thereto having upright members, a single guide bar carried bysaid upright members, a carriage slidably mounted on said guide bar, abearing extending transversely of said carriage beneath said guide bar,a shaft journaled in said bearing, a cutting disk mounted on said shaft,and means carried by said frame for simultaneously reciprocating saidcarriage and rotating said disk.

2. A slicing machine comprising a table or support for the work, a frameadjacent thereto having upright members, a guide bar carried by saidupright members, a carriage slidably mounted on said guide bar andcomprising bearing plates arranged on opposite sides of said guide bar,connected one to the other above and below the same and having atransverse bearing formed therein beneath said guide bar, a shaftjournaled in said bearing, a disk mounted on the end of said shaftadjacent to said table, and means for simultaneously reciprocating saidcarriage and rotating said disk.

3. A slicing machine comprising a table or support for the work, a frameadjacent thereto having upright members, a single guide bar carried bysaid upright members, a carriage slidably mounted on said guide bar, acutting disk rotatably mounted on said carriage beneath said guide bar,and means carried by said frame for simultaneously recriprocating saidcarriage and rotating said disk, in combination, with a work holdermounted on said table or support, means for feeding forward said holderat each reciprocation of said carriage, and means for regulating theextent of movement of said feeding mechanism.

4:.- A slicing machine comprising a table or support for the work, asingle guide bar adjacent thereto, a carriage slidably mounted on saidguide bar, a cutting disk rotatably mounted on the carriage, a sprocketwheel rotating with said disk, a sprocket chain engagin said sprocketwheel, other sprocket wheels journaled on fixed supports near theopposite ends of said guide bar and supporting said chain, and means forsimultaneously driving one of said other sprocket wheels andreciprocating the carriage.

A slicing machine comprising a table or support for the work, a guideadjacent thereto, a carriage mounted on said guide, a cut ting diskrotatably mounted on said carriage, a sprocket wheel rotating with saiddisk, a sprocket chain engaging said sprocket wheel and extendingsubstantially parallel with said guide, other sprocket wheels journaledon fixed supports near the opposite ends of said guide and supportingsaid chain, means for simultaneously driving one of said other sprocketwheels and reciprocating said carriage, said carriage and cutting disktraveling oppositely to the driving portion of the chain during theworking stroke of the cutting disk.

6. A slicing machine comprising a table or support for the work, a guideadjacent thereto, a carriage mounted to reciprocate in the guide, acuttin disk mounted on the carriage and provic ed with a sprocket wheel,a driving shaft near one end of said guide provided with a sprocketwheel and pinion, an idle sprocket wheel journaled on a fixed supportnear the opposite end of said guide, a sprocket chain extendingsubstantially parallel to said guide, passing around the idle anddriving sprocket wheels and enga 'ing the sprocket wheel of the cuttingdis I, a crank shaft provided with a gear meshing with the drivingpinion, and a link connecting the crank of said crank shaft with thecarriage.

7. A machine for slicing meat and other articles comprising a workholder provided on its side nearest the plane of cut with gripping jawshaving gripping teeth, one of said jaws being stationary and the otherof said jaws comprising a toothed bar extending substantially parallelto the toothed side of said work holder and having rearwardly extendingarms pivotally connected to said work holder.

8. A machine for slicing meat and other articles comprising a holderhaving a base with upwardly projecting teeth at its forward edge, agripping bar extending substantially parallel to said toothed edge andhaving downwardly directed teeth opposed to those of the base, armsextending rearwardly from said gripping bar and pivoted to said holder,and means for locking the gripping bar in position, substantially asdescribed.

9. A machine for slicing meat and other articles comprising a holderhaving a base and vertical lateral flanges, gripping teeth projectingupward from the body and the forward edge of the base, a gripping barprovided with teeth opposed to those of the forward edge of the base,arms extendin rearward from said gripping bar and pivoted to the flangesof the base, and means for locking said grippin bar in adjustedposition, substantially as escribed.

10. In a slicing machine, the combination, with a table or support, anda work bench slidably mounted thereon, of a feed shaft extendingparallel with said table and arranged at a point removed therefrom,means for actuating said shaft, a worm rigidly secured to said shaft, aguide rod extending parallel with said feed shaft, arranged between thesame and said table and in substantially the same horizontal plane withsaid feed shaft, said guide rod havin its outer end free andunobstructed, a sleeve slidably mounted on said guide rod, freelyremovable therefrom and rigidly secured to said work holder, said sleevehaving teeth arranged in the side thereof opposite said work holderadapted to engage said Worm when said work holder is in its normal orhorizontal position and to be disengaged from said worm when said workholder has been rocked about said guide rod.

11. A slicing machine comprising a work holder having rack teeth, andmeans for supporting and guiding said holder, in combination with a feedshaft having a worm and ratchet wheel mounted to rotate in unisonthereon, a pawl moving in unison with the feed shaft and engaging theratchet wheel, and means for oscillating said feed shaft, substantiallyas described.

12. A slicing machine comprising a work holder havin rack teeth, meansfor supporting and gui ing said holder, and a reciproeating carriageprovided with a cutter, in comblnation with a feed shaft, a worm andratchet wheel mounted to rotate in unison thereon, a pawl moving withthe feed shaft and engaging the ratchet wheel, and means actuated by thereciprocating carriage for oscillating said feed shaft, substantially asdescribed.

13. A slicing machine comprising a work holder having rack teeth, meansfor supporting and guiding said holder, and a reciprocating carriageprovided with a cutter, in combination with a feed shaft, a worm andratchet wheel mounted to rotate in unison thereon, a pawl moving withthe feed shaft and engaging the ratchet wheel, and means actuated by thereciprocating carriage for oscillating said feed shaft, said meanscomprising a part engaged by the carriage near the end of its returnstroke, means intermediate said part and the feed shaft to move saidshaft in one direction, and a spring moving said parts in the oppositedirect1on,'substantially as described.

14. In a slicing machine, an oscillating feed shaft, a reciprocatingcarriage, a part engaged by said carriage near the end of its returnstroke, mechanism intermediate said part and the feed shaft for rotatingsaid shaft in one direction, a spring acting to. move said parts in theother direction, and an adjustable stop limiting the extent of thespring-actuated movement, substantially as described.

15. In a slicing machine, the combination, with a reciprocatingrevolving cutter, of a work-supporting table having holding teethlocated on its margin adjacent to the path of the cutter, a work-holder,and means for automatically feeding forward said workholder to move thework over said table and said teeth, substantially as described.

16. In a slicing machine, the combination, with a reciprocatingrevolving cutter, of a work-supporting table having elongated holdingteeth located on its margin adjacent to the path of the cutter, saidteeth extending in the direction of feed of the material and beingadapted to hold the material against lateral movement and permit theWork-supporting table having holding teeth forward movement thereof,substantially as I being adapted to hold the material against 1.0described. I lateral movement and permit the forward 17. In a slicingmachine, the combination, movement thereof, substantially as described.with a reciprocating revolving cutter, of a In testimony whereof, IafiiX mysignature in presence of two Witnesses. located on its marginadjacent to the path l FRANKLIN P. BURKHARDT. of the cutter, said teetharising in an incline l Vitnesses:

from the surface of the table and extending E. O. HAGAN, in thedirection of feed of the material and HARRIET HAMM KER.

